After much speculation regarding the status of the new standard form contract (AS 11000) which was due to replace AS 4000 and AS 2124 (both widely used construction contract forms in Australia), Standards Australia has announced that it has cancelled all current work on AS 11000.

In a statement released on 4 April 2017, Standards Australia noted that AS 11000 was not "supported by the full spectrum of interests" and that in relation to the future of AS 11000 that Standards Australia would reconstitute the committee responsible for the drafting of AS 11000 to "broaden stakeholder representation.” Further, Standards Australia noted that AS 11000 would not be released as an Interim Standard or for use as an Australian Technical Standard.

A draft AS 11000 was initially released for public comment in January 2015 and we previously reported on the key differences between the new standard and AS 4000 and AS 2124. Our previous alert can be viewed here.

We will continue to update you with any further developments regarding the introduction of a new standard form contract.